


Digging Through Boxes

by greekowl87



Category: The X-Files
Genre: Angst, F/M, Fluff, Grief, Moving, Moving On, Parent Death, Post-Episode: s10e04 Home Again, Romance, movig
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-02
Updated: 2017-06-07
Packaged: 2018-11-08 03:22:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,089
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11073024
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/greekowl87/pseuds/greekowl87
Summary: Scully goes through her mother's home with Mulder's help at the end of 'Home Again' after the funeral. Let's forget about 'My Struggle II.'





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I've been wanting something like this for a while. My dad passed last year. Right now, I'm moving in the next few weeks and I am going through my childhood home and my father's things. Part of it is self-therapy, other is art intimates life, and the other I really wanted to write a fic for this.
> 
> Likely finished over the next few weeks. P.S. I haven't forgotten 'Runaway Christmas.' It's taken a back seat as has most of my writing until I get through my move. Hope you enjoy.
> 
> Disclaimer: I own nothing, merely borrowing for fun.

Scully sat quietly in her SUV quietly. She slouched in the leather seat and absently fiddled with the car keys, then her fidgety hand sought her jacket's pocket quietly, feeling the heavy quarter in between her thumb and forefinger. The metal was warm from her constantly touching in anxiety. She pulled it out and examined it, trying to recall when she ever remembered her mother wearing it. But she couldn't. The quarter itself was old, the date of 1964 on it, her birth year, and the edges had been worn from constant handling before it had been turned into a necklace. She put the coin back into her jean's pocket and touched the golden cross the rested on her chest lightly, out of habit, hoping her faith could get her through this.

Her mother's death was still too fresh. Too raw.

She remembered her father's death and seeing his ghost (was it a ghost?) and then waking up and receiving that horrible news from her mother in 1994. But now...her mother's death weighed more heavily upon her.

She thought of Mulder and eased out a breath slowly she realized that she had been holding. Mulder, her sweet and confused Mulder. Her Mulder who had been her rock before she even realized it. She remembered the first time he used her first name, right after her dad died.

But how are you, Dana?

She remembers the warmth that had spread through her the way he spoke her first name the first time. But Scully being Scully dismissed it then. She was young, still eager to prove to him she was not a spy, that he could trust her. The second time he asked her that question, with the same tone and warmth was with Emily. But that time, she managed to answer him with a simple shake of the head, tears coming down her eyes in that small church in California. She hugged him tightly and didn't let go. He simply held her as she cried. The final failure of IVF. Even though he never spoke it out loud that night as he held her tenderly and loved her passionately during a session of sex that was born out of grief. Then when they were on the run, after everything was said in done. In some motel room in the middle of Arizona. He held her as they both cried, at the loss of William and the current situation.

Even as their relationship went on the rocks over the years, he still tried to be her emotional rock despite his own depression. But now with them having the X-Files back, their personal relationship seemed to be on the mend, albeit, careful mending. He was there at her side when her mother died. He held her as she cried. He carried her through the funeral, even bearing the brunt of Big Brother Bill and the awkwardness that came from seeing Charlie again after many years. He was there. He was her constant.

She sighed, bringing a hand to her head, wishing that she had called him to ask him out there.

Scully was so lost in her thoughts that she jumped when she heard someone knocking on her glass of her driver's side door. She placed her hand to her heart and then relaxed when she saw Mulder, dressed in that dumb green army jacket, jeans, and a soft t-shirt. He had sunglasses pushed up on the top of his head and he smiled awkwardly. "Sorry, didn't mean to spook you."

She sighed, not of annoyance but out of contentment. Already, without realizing it, she was relaxing with his mere presence. She pushed the door open with her left foot and looked at her gently. "Isn't that why they call you Spooky?"

"Not since the 90s," he said, opening the door for here.

She climbed out and she felt him studying her. She was dressed in simple jeans, an old sweatshirt that used to be his, and old hospital sneakers. He saw her jacket in the passenger seat along with her bag. She shifted uncomfortably, her right-hand unconsciously seeking his. "How did you know where to find me?"

"My Scully sense was tingling."

She smiled again, warmed by the endearment. "Did you Uber again?"

"Lyft. It was cheaper," he said softly. He squeezed her hand. "Remember, I was at the will reading and you left your date book open...sorry. I did not mean to intrude. I thought you could use the help going through her house."

How did he always know, she wondered. Except she smiled wordlessly and grasped his other hand. "I'm glad you're here. Come on, I'll give you a ride back." To home, either the D.C. apartment or the house. Since they started working together, she indulged herself calling the D.C. apartment she had again as theirs. "Did you bring food?"

"I brought coffee. We can order pizza later. Come on, it's a big house. Let's get started, Scully." He placed his hand the small of her back. His spot. "It's still early."

"Mulder."

They stopped.

Her blue eyes sought his hazel eyes. He rubbed her upper arm with his free hand.

"Thank you."

And he just merely smiled and guided her to the house. She felt his arm come loosely around his waist as they walked towards the front door of the former home of Maggie Scully.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> First things first.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all the sweet comments on the first chapter. :) Sorry I did not get a chance to respond to them individually.
> 
> So, a quick second chapter. I wrote it in an hour with a bout of insomnia. Moving is coming along and I got less than two weeks left. So hopefully I'll be able to finish this in the same time. :) Thanks for sticking with this.
> 
> Also, the usual disclaimer: I am merely borrowing for fun, I own nothing.

Her hand had been shaking slightly as she fumbled with the key to unlock her mother's door. Very subtly, Mulder had grasped her hand and steadied it as they both turn the key together. She had not said anything but just smiled slightly in gratitude. But as soon as the door opened, she stopped dead in her tracks. Unconsciously, she began to take a step back only to back into Mulder. He gently wrapped an arm around her waist and whispered, "We're okay. Come on, Scully. We have to start somewhere. That's the first step."

We. He was using we, as in both of them.

She remained silent as she felt herself nodding and took a deep breath. She stepped into the empty home. Mulder closed the door behind them, it creaking as it shut firmly, leaving goosebumps on the back of Scully's neck. She sighed and set her jacket and bag near the door and took a few steps through the entry way. Her mind flashed back briefly to when she held a gun to his head, claiming he had gone to the other side, her mother trying to calm her, and Scully eventually sobbing into her mother's arms, still clutching her Sig Sauer. Shaking her head, trying to disperse those long forgotten memories, she took a left into the kitchen.

"It was a Sunday, wasn't it, when she went to the hospital?" Mulder asked.

Scully looked over her shoulder to see Mulder following her a couple steps behind her. His eyes were looking critically over the house but he still held back, as if he was unsure of his place there. Scully reached out and took his hand gently in hers, pulling him closer, reiterating his place was with her.

"Sunday morning," she said softly.

The Sunday paper was spread haphazardly out across the kitchen table. There was a stale bagel on a plate, half eaten. A coffee cup with half empty, cold coffee that was beginning to mold from the creamer left in it. The coffee pot was still full of coffee. But the kitchen chair was pushed out of the way, a dead cordless phone thrown on the floor. She gulped, unsure where to start. She did not want to disturb the scene, one last shrine to her mother's life, the last things that she had touched before her untimely demise. To clean those things up would have just affirmed the truth. Maggie Scully was dead.

"It wasn't this hard when Ahab died," Scully said quietly, turning towards him. "And I was closer to dad than I was to mom. I was always his little Starbuck. Mom was just happy if she could get me into a dress." She smiled fondly at the memories. "I was something of a tomboy. And a punk in high school."

Mulder chuckled. "You? A punk?"

"Wait till we get to the pictures." She sighed again and rested her forehead against his chest. "I don't know why I'm acting like this."

Mulder looked down and hesitantly kissed Scully's head. "Your dad died in 1994. You were still new to the X-Files, we hadn't...you hadn't...we hadn't suffered the things that we did yet," he began softly. "But your abduction, Emily, William, putting up with me. Especially putting up with my drama." He felt her smiled against his chest. "She was there with you for that."

"There were times, especially towards the end, I didn't even feel like she knew who I was anymore. Only you did."

"But she was still there, Scully. Not your father, your mother. Maybe that is why? While you were closer as a child, you grew closer to her for all that you--"

"We."

"We went through," he corrected softly.

She was quiet for a long moment and then nodded slightly, accepting his explanation. She looked up into his hazel eyes, her crystal clear blue eyes glassy with unshed tears. Mulder wanted nothing more than to kiss away her tears and do everything in his power to make her feel better and take away her pain. But he felt like that would be overstepping his bounds. Their relationship was still on the mend itself and he did not feel quite that comfortable yet.

"Um." She took a deep breath. "Will you start the coffee pot? I'll clean up the table. We can figure out where to start from there. I feel like this is going to take a lot of caffeine."

He nodded wordlessly and set out dumping the old coffee, washing the pot, and starting a new one. Scully, with slightly shaking hands and mechanical motions, picked up the cordless phone, folded and tossed the paper, dumped the half eaten bagel, washed the plate, and pushed in the chair. She let out a shaky breath. She placed her hands on her hips and focused on her feet as she felt Mulder guide her to the table. "It's a start, Scully. I'll get you some coffee."

She nodded and sat in the chair. "I'm not quite sure where to start but we have to keep three categories in mind: keep, donate, toss."

"See? It's a start." He brought over two cups of coffee. "Are your brothers going to be helping at all?"

She whispered in thanks taking the steaming coffee cup. "No. Charlie, is well, Charlie. I don't quite understand that division. He grew apart from everyone while we were on the run. I was surprised he even came to the funeral with his family. Bill, is well...Bill." She listed family members as if their names were all encompassing meanings of them and that Mulder understood them, even if it was only partially. "Missy's dead. Dad's dead. Aunt Olive is old and has Alzheimer's. That just leaves...me."

"That leaves us." He held her hand again. Her eyes went immediately to their joined hands. "Let's finish this cup of coffee, I'll call a dumpster rental service and we can start on taking inventory and seeing what were up against, okay?"

He finished his cup of coffee and stood up to put in the sink. He drew out his phone and began to google dumpster rentals. Scully's gaze lingered to where he had held her hand. All these simple gestures were making her heart beat faster. It reminded her of one of the reasons why she fell in love with him in the beginning.

"Mulder."

He looked up from dialing the number and found her eyes. Although still glassy, they weren't red and threatening to spill tears. "Yeah, Scully?"

"I just wanted to thank you, again, for being here with me."

"You don't have to thank me, Scully," he said, putting the phone to his ear. "I do it because I...hello? Uh, yes, hi. I wanted to see what it would take to rent a dumpster." He squeezed her shoulder lovingly as he stepped out into the living room to finish the phone call.

She felt the lingering warmth giving her renewed strength to go through the monumental task of going through this house. At least she wasn't alone in this.


End file.
